Wow, Lord. How is it possible? Sometimes Your still small whisper comes in the middle of the loudest and most exuberant praise music.
Like this morning, when I decided to visit a different church for worship. The praise music was captivating. It wasn’t long before I felt swept away from the cares of the world and swept into the cares of Your heart. That’s when Your whisper filled my senses, and You took me to a particular passage of Scripture:
“Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.” (Ezekiel 37:4b,5b)
Dry bones… like mine? Suddenly, You filled my mind with questions. Questions You clearly wanted me to investigate, finding answers about which to meditate. So often, You have shown me that what happens in the natural reflects what happens in the spiritual. So what are the spiritual lessons You want me to learn from my latest diagnosis?
From both a physical and spiritual viewpoint: What is the purpose of the skeletal system ? What causes bone density loss? What, if anything, can reverse it? What can prevent it?
It didn’t take long for me to discover why this part of the body could be a favorite point of attack for anyone who would want to slow down (or sideline altogether) those with a significant race to run.
“… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith…” (Hebrews 12:1b-2a)
I learned today that the skeletal system has three main functions: 1) to support the structure and movement of the body; 2) to protect the internal organs from injury; and 3) to produce blood cells (and store essential minerals and energy).
“For the life of a creature is in the blood…” (Leviticus 17:11)
I learned today how important good nutrition and exercise (cardiovascular and strengthening) both are to healthy bones. And I wondered: How can I best nourish and strengthen my “spiritual skeleton” so it can support, protect and produce what is essential for a fruitful life in You, Lord?
“… man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3b)
“For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow…” (Hebrews 4:12).
The place where life happens. The place where the Life-Giver makes life happen.
The new medicine my doctor has prescribed for me is designed to “help stop development of bone removing cells before they can reach the bones and cause damage.” What are the “bone removing cells” that pick away at our spiritual skeleton, Lord? The fears, blocks and limiting beliefs that we have embraced because we have ingested the enemy’s lies “hook, line and sinker”? How can we intercept them before they can do their damage?
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
It all comes back to Your Word… doesn’t it, Lord? Your priceless written Word (the Bible) and Your priceless Living Word (Your very Presence, Jesus). But the real effectiveness of this Rx prescription lies not in just memorizing and glibly quoting words that have no real meaning to us. I have heard it said that the longest distance on Earth is the eighteen inches between the head and the heart. Your Words must come to life in us, so we don’t just know them… we believe them.
Believing the Great Physician, who said to me this morning:
“Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.” (Ezekiel 37:4b,5b)
Abba’s Girl